Masataka Nakano’s ‘My Lost America’

Masataka Nakano’s ‘My Lost America’ photography book ran past my eyes at one of my favourite photography bookstores in Berlin. It’s a very nostalgic look at the lost years of America in the 80s, the centrepiece of which is a startlingly eerie picture of the twin towers hovering over New York before they were attacked in 2001. It seems that in the 80s people were happier, things were hotter, and people were far more subdued. But then again, maybe it was because of the huge cocaine boom? Who would have thought that a Japanese photographer by the name of Masataka Nakano would have undertaken such a project: ‘The colour photographs that fill every page of this book are then a slice of America that has slowly disappeared, yet draw on iconic and timeless images of people captured on the street, empty spaces, billboards and signage, streetscapes, parks and Cadillac’s and Chevrolets’. Simply dazzling!